Parkour

What is Parkour? Parkour is a way of getting from A to B as quickly and efficiently as possible. This means that you run, climb, jump, balance and roll over and off objects such as fences and walls.

How Did it Start? Parkour began over 100 years ago with Herbertism created by Georges Herbert when he discovered the fitness of many African people using nature as their gym.

More recently Raymond Belle used these techniques in the Indo-Chinese War as a teen-soldier. This allowed his unit to use the terrain to their advantage. He taught his son David Belle who adapted it into Parkour as it is today.

Why is it popular? Parkour as a sport and as its basic elements have been displayed in video games such as: >Both Assassins creed games – “Altair” and “Ezio” use it >Prototype mentions it by name >Prince of Persia and its sequels use it but portray it at a superhuman level >Tony Hawk: American Wasteland has several techniques to perform while not on the skateboard

Parkour has also been featured in: >Casino Royale (James Bond) >The music video of “Jump” by Madonna >Jump London and Jump Britain documentaries. The Person I interviewed said “I enjoy climbing things” and “crazy can be fun”

Safety There are no “rules” as such but there are some precautions taken most traceurs (people that do Parkour): >Wear shoes with good support >Warm up / warm down before and after doing a run >Try to keep a good technique > Advice from a traceur : “ Apart from NOT breaking bones … stretching helps”

Parkour Moves To show some basic moves I have used stop motion animation. This is a way of creating video by using a series of still pictures. This is the cradle I built to hold the bionicle in place

The tic-tac is a way of reaching a higher platform by jumping off a separate, vertical object

A vault is the action of throwing yourself over a low wall.

References Websites: Books: Freerunning - Find Your Way by Sebastien Foucan The Parkour & Freerunning Handbook by Dan Edwardes